


Out of Line

by RiYuYami



Series: Pulling Strings [6]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Bendy doesn't deserve this, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Injury, Joey's kind of a big jerk, prequel for the series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-07 22:14:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12850602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiYuYami/pseuds/RiYuYami
Summary: There is no such thing as perfection, no matter how hard you try to make it a thing, Joey Drew.





	Out of Line

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve had this one on my mind for a while now, and though I really need to work on a final paper, I have to get this written out or I’ll forget what I had in mind.
> 
> For once I have a one-shot for this series that isn't based on the batim-based au I'm working on for another fandom I'm in, holy shit, who saw that coming?
> 
> Did not beta this or anything, so if you see any mistakes... whoops, I'll try to fix them soon.
> 
> On with the fic.

Bendy’s hands shook as he looked at the human who was toying with the giant machine in the room, the machine that brought him into this world. The little Toon swallowed the lump in his non-existent throat and slowly approached the director, who sat comfortably in his wheelchair. “Joey?”

Joey paused and glanced over his shoulder at Bendy, smiling a bit at him. “Ah, is there something you need?”

It was now or never, he had to get this out before he missed his chance. “Joey, pal, I… I feel like we need ta, ya know… stop wit’ all of dis’…”

The human frowned, looking confused. “Stop with what?” He asked, though Bendy picked up on the tightness of the man’s voice, as if he was controlling his true emotions. Too bad for Bendy, unlike some of the other people in the studio, Joey was a man who never showed his true thoughts on his face, his poker face was a mask of perfection.

He wasn’t quick to show emotion like Henry was…

“Dis’!” Bendy pointed to the Ink Machine. “I-I saw one of dem things! Dem ink things… down below, it was in pain, an’ tried ta hurt me…! And then, oh jeez, Sammy’s been talkin’ funny, an’ he keeps lookin’ sicker an’ sicker…”

Joey just tapped his finger on the arm rest of his chair, a thoughtful expression on his face. “I don’t think we can really stop what has begun, and besides, sometimes mistakes need to be made for perfection.”

“Perfection mah left foot!” The Toon shouted, stomping said foot. “What are ya doin’ to Sammy?! What’s with dem things down below! Those things weren’t der last week! I know you’ve been up ta somethin’ lately, Joey, and the ink don’t seem right anymore!”

He narrowed his eyes, glaring daggers at his director. “Who or what are those ink things…?”

“Mistakes.” Was the simple reply he got from the man who looked as if this subject was boring to him, like a bad conversation piece.

Bendy inhaled sharply through his teeth before smacking his forehead, hard. “Dang it, Drew! Don’t be yankin’ mah chain! Tell me whatcha been doin’ with da machine!”

“And why should I do that? My business with the Ink Machine has nothing to do with you, you’re perfect as is, you don’t need to be fixed.”

The Toon blinked, straightening up. Perfect, there’s that word again, Joey always uses it. Henry use to vent to Bendy when he was animating the little devil, using him as a sounding board to complain about Joey and his ‘perfect’ needs, how he was such a perfectionist.

He frowned, putting his hands on his hips as he looked at the man. “What does me bein’ perfect have ta do with dem monsters, an’ Sammy, an’ some of da other people here cause I ain’t dumb enough to not notice that they’ve been actin’ _reeeeeeaaaaallllll_ funny lately. An’ not the good kinda funny either!”

Joey just sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before turning away from Bendy. “Listen, my little devil darling, this studio… it’s a mess, and I can’t have that, it is not right for such a place full of wonder and splendor.” He chose to ignore the sarcastic laugh he got from the little Toon. “People are… disgustingly imperfect, and yet they work and strive to create things that are perfect. Ironic, isn’t it?”

“I guess? What’s ya point?”

“My point, my friend, is that I am simply doing what everyone else here does. I am working to create things and make them their perfect selves.”

Bendy felt a cold shiver run down his spine at those words. “W-what?”

“The Ink Machine can do so much, Bendy, so much more than just bring you to life. Its ink is powerful, much more than a simple artist’s tool! Why, with just a few extra touches to it, a bit of it incorporated with someone… hehehe… it could benefit them greatly!”

Joey turned the chair to face Bendy, the look on his face was too expressive, too full of glee for Bendy’s taste, and he’s the guy who has his smiling face plastered all over the studio…

“Think about it, with the machine’s help, everyone will be better off! Be happy! Yes, it seems that I haven’t quite found the right method of doing it, but you know the old saying, ‘practice makes perfect’.”

“Stop it! Stop sayin’ dat word!” Bendy shouted. “Joey, whatcha sayin’… it ain’t right! I don’t think anyone wants that!”

“You don’t know who wants it or not.”

“Oh I’m sure everyone don’t want any of dat ink touchin’ ‘em if they find out that those monsters came from…” Bendy paused, feeling as if something just made a connection in his head. “W-wait… are those… those things…?”

“Failed attempts, but things are looking so much better.” Joey smiled, gently patting the churning machine.

Bendy shook his head slowly, stepping back. “N-no, Joey, what have ya done…!? You turned- oh gosh… are they-?!”

“Interns, mainly.” How could Joey be so casual with saying such a thing?!

The Dancing Demon felt sick to his stomach, oh god, oh god… those creatures that moaned in pain, reaching out to him… those were once innocent people… and Sammy, was that man going to become one?!

“I-I gotta… I gotta warn…!” Bendy moved to turn, but his arm was quickly caught by a tight grip.

Joey glared at him with harsh, dark eyes. “You will no speak a word of this to anyone, I am still working on it, it’s not ready to be revealed.”

“You’re crazy! Let me go!” Bendy screamed, pulling as hard as he could, but Joey continued to hold on tightly, twisting his right arm the more Bendy struggled. He shouted in pain when it became too much, when Joey twisted it too far… “HENRY, HELP!” The Toon screamed without thinking, and was released when Joey gasped.

No one was allowed to speak of Henry within earshot of Joey, even saying his name could get you a nasty look and harsh words.

Bendy took advantage of this moment and ran, trying to ignore the pain in his arm. He was much faster than Joey, and knew his arm would heal in a matter of moments, he was a Toon after all, they always bounced back unless if something terrible happened. Oh, like, say… having your heart ripped out of your chest! But that was never going to happen!

But right now, the pain in his arm was the least of his concerns! He needed to find a human who would listen to him! Maybe Norman, or Wally! Shawn, Allison? Or he could find Boris! Someone would believe him, everyone already thought that Joey was a screw loose anyway, so they’d totally believe him about what he just found out!

He didn’t find anyone in the main room, but he figured people were upstairs! There was always someone milling about on the upper floor, he’d rather avoid the lower ones anyway.

Bendy rushed down the tiny hall that led to the former drawing space of Henry, and into the stairwell, making his way up the steps.

But just as he reached the landing, he felt something very off in the back of his head. As if there was something wrong with his ink. In the moment of distraction, Bendy’s foot slipped and he fell backwards, tumbling down the stairs, landing on the bottom in terrible pain.

His right arm throbbed from the extra injuries it sustained, while his left leg…

Pie cut eyes went off-model in shock and horror at the twisted thing that was his leg, oh… oh gosh, it hurt so much..! Why was he feeling so much pain, why did this hurt, how did he even get injured like this from a simple fall?!

It occurred to him that he hadn’t heard any cartoon-based noises when he tumbled, like in his shorts, or when he had seen Boris trip down a flight of stairs a few days ago. The wolf had easily shaken off his wounds, just as a cartoon should, but Bendy knew that these wounds couldn’t be fixed that way.

He groaned, weakly calling out for help as he tried not to pass out from the pain. He heard something, turning to look at the doorway, shocked to see Joey wheel himself into the room, looking passively at him. “Seems you took a nasty fall, didn’t you?”

“W-what’s goin’ on…?” Bendy wheezed out, trying to sit up but almost screamed when he put pressure on his twisted arm. “Why ain’t I healin’ right…?”

“Because I turned off the machine, to teach you a lesson.”

Bendy’s eyes widened, the machine’s never been turned off since his creation. “You… why?!”

“To make sure you understood how dangerous it is to cross me, Bendy. Now, I can fix this, make everything right as rain, turn the machine back on so this place continues to function, and you continue to be a Toon instead of… well… I’m not too sure what will happen to you the longer the machine is off, and you are cut off from your ink source…”

Joey moved closer, parking himself close to Bendy, leaning down to stare at him. “You can either behave and never speak a word of what you learned to anyone, or I will just leave you here to find out what happens when the machine is off for too long and you can’t get to any ink with those broken limbs you have. The choice is yours, do we fix the mistakes, or leave them as they are? I think you know the right answer to that, you are in an artists’ workshop, aren’t you?” He smiled sweetly, but there was poison hidden in that honey.

Bendy panted hard, looking at Joey in worry, before looking at his arm, his leg. He knew the information he had was of great importance, he could save the humans! But… but he was so scared… and Joey had him right where he wanted him, Bendy knew Joey was a powerful man, and he had known for years that…

Creators were always able to fix ‘mistakes’, and in the off-chance they couldn’t?

The mistakes were destroyed with no repairs…

He let out a scared whine and turned his head away, feeling his vision starting to black out from the pain and fear. “I… I won’t tell a soul…”

“Good boy.” Joey chuckled, gently patting his head as the Toon began to fall unconscious.

\--

Bendy grunted and opened his eyes, wincing at the bright light above him, nearly jumping out of his skin when he heard a voice.

“Ah, you’re finally awake, my friend! How are you feeling?”

“Joey…?” Bendy blinked rubbing at his eye, wincing at the dull ache in his right arm. He looked at it, seeing that it looked normal, but something felt… off about it? That dull ache…

Wait, he remembered… running, then falling down the stairs…

Gasping, Bendy sat up and looked at his leg, feeling another dull ache in it, but it felt a bit worse than his arm. His left leg looked normal, but something seemed off with it as well, it was hard to tell. But what happened, why can’t he remember everything, why did he fall?

“Joey, what happened?” He asked, looking at the human.

“You were messing around, trying to play some prank on me, and when you scurried off, you took a terrible tumble down the stairs!” Joey stated, blinking. “Luckily I found you before the injuries to your arm and leg could get worse.”

“How could I get hurt? I’mma Toon, we don’t get hurt like you humans.” Bendy frowned, rubbing his arm a little.

“Well, you caught me with your silly spook prank with a balloon while I was cleaning the machine, making me react and I must have hit the switch on the machine turning it off. Seems that when its off, you can get really hurt.”

Bendy didn’t remember pulling a prank, maybe he bumped his head on the way down the stairs? Explains why he can’t remember much outside of having felt pain. Weird, he didn’t like this one bit. “Did ya fix me up…?”

“Yep!” Joey smiled. “Used some ink from the machine and patched you up as best as I could, I hope everything is right as rain with you, yes?”

Frowning, Bendy noticed he was on Joey’s desk, must have been brought to his office while he was out cold. He carefully moved his arm about, the ache was still there, but he could use his arm just fine, he was sure. He got off the desk, wincing when he stepped wrong on his foot, and began walking. He didn’t like that it seems he had a limp, it was very slight, but it was still there if someone took notice.

“I’m sure that you’ll heal on your own, let the new ink settle in and work its magic, okay?” The director spoke, the smile still on his face.

Bendy gave Joey a nervous smile and nodded, yeah, that sounded right, he’d just let it heal up and he’d be good as new!

… Right?

END

**Author's Note:**

> I have a theory that the Ink Machine, when activated, allows for the Toons to do toon-nonsense, it allows for recovery, for Bendy's abilities, and later his demonic powers, to function. But when it's off? They don't work right, and Bendy doesn't understand why, so that doesn't help him in trying to figure out what will become of him if the machine is off for too long and he's not in the ink. This is obviously mentioned in the one-shot about "Bendy" in the pipes I wrote beforehand.
> 
> While Bendy was knocked out, Joey did some crazy ass spell to black out Bendy’s memories of their conversation. He did actually try to heal his injuries, but he couldn’t fix them right, which is why “Bendy’s” arm and leg are the way they are.  
> This is just the start of problems for Bendy, and in time, the more his mind is altered, his body damaged while the machine is off, the most he begins to take on the characteristics of his other self.
> 
> But that’s just for this au, who the hell knows why he looks the way he does in canon, outside of theMeatly and his crew. 
> 
> If I can figure out more for this concept, I think I’ll do more one-shots or something of Bendy’s slow transformation into “Bendy”. Also, I did mention in Whistling in the Pipes that there were other Bendys, considering how our little friend in this story knows something isn't right, Joey would think to come up with back up clones, like with Boris. 
> 
> Oh, and of course, Joey will do some manipulation to Bendy’s memories of Henry, to make him hate the guy. (Of course, just like the healing magic, it’s only going to work for the most part, not completely haha). Joey thinks he's the one in control here, but not in this story, no, no...
> 
> Thanks for reading, comment and kudos please!


End file.
